Hopper mechanism for slide fastener end stops



March 2, 1954 H LEWNE 2,670578 HOPPER MECHANISM FOR SLIDE FASTENER END STOPS Filed March 6, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR HRR y L Ev/Ne H. LEVINE March 2, 1954 HOPPER MECHANISM FOR SLIDE FASTENER END STOPS Fiied March e, 1948 March 2, 1954 H. L EvlNE 2,670,778

` HOPFER MECHANISM FOR SLIDE F'ASTENER END STOPS Filed March 6, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 NVENTOR E AZORNEY March 2, 1954 Filed March 6, 1948 H. LEVINE HOPPER MECHANISM FOR SLIDE FASTENER END STOPS 4 sheets-sheet 4 Il In U l il UWM INVENTOR Patented Mar. 2, 1954 omiso STATES y Herren MECHANISM non? strofe inserirsi; END STSS narrar-ais, itiyff, Y: Appiistoniwarch 6, 194s, serial No; 13,406 4" omits. (ci. ist-iii l. This inventionreiates-to ahopper mechanism for sliae fastener. end stops for mounting end stops on slide fastener stringere. n

MItis an object of the invention to provide an:V apparatus of the character described in which the endstops; prior to mounting; arev withdrawn from: a hopper without muti-lation.

It is a' further obiect of the invention to, provide an apparatus of the character described inf whichiduring'and after Withdrawal from a hopper and until they are mounted on stringersther end stops are maintained unzier positive posir tionai control. o,

Ttv an additionalobject of the inventionv to provide an apparatusqofthe character describedI which comprises comparativeiy few and simple parte; and is rugged constrnoti-onl and speedy in: operation.

@ther obieetsioi the' invention xviii inpart beoinvions anzi in part be pointedy out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the fea-r tures of construction, combinations of elementsf arrangementgof parts,l which will; be; exempliieciin thedevice and; process hereinafter cle-fj scribed anzi-the scope'oiwhichv willl befind-ioateciV the appended claims. o

In the' accompanying drawings; which is shown one of the various possibie embodiments of the invention:

Eig. i' is a: side'view ofanapparatus constructed in accordance with the invention; l

Fig'. .Tis-a front View of saiiapparatus;.r p

Fig; 3i isa fragmentary sectionall View taken1- smbstantiaii-yaio-ngv-the line 3-3 of-Figr-Zy and-is illustrative oi the arrangement ofiA the transfer mechanism;l Y

Fig.: 4-is an enlarged-sectional view taken slib-i stantiaiiy along the line 4--4 cfEgv. l, and isili-us" trative or the construction of the hopper;

5is a fragmentary enlarged'vsideview oil g tnestationat Whienemistops are introduced intothe'gravitgr chute; Y d Y Fig.: 6 is-a sectionalrview taken substantially aionir the line 644i of. Fig 5:

Fig. T is a vertical centrar-sectiona-llV View through the apparatusaty the. transfer rfi-echa@ tof-the direction in- -whieh the-:mechanismfshifts enti stops; Y Y v Fig. S'i-s aV sectional vietv'takensubstantie-1151.4 alnngthei line 8-81 of Fig. 7;

i'gs; QJeind 10 are detailvsectionaiviews taken.- siibstantiaaiiyvalong the-lines 9'-'9 mdr lit-Lili',- ifo-- spectiveiy, of Fig. 8, the same being illustrative randein are sentaient, meteen ifif'fl stopsl inproper position during transfer f the. means foroperating;A 'said pins; L* y v the transfer mechanism andl its co'ac'ti'rgA parts a disaient siageqiopeiaiiqn: a o Eig; 12y is afragmentaryh vievvxtaken bs't'anf-f tiali-y along the line )2-Lief Fig. vf, tHe e' ine pins at the time thatthe transfer inebisi' 'receivesA an ends-temeon@ n l Fie.- le isa perspeiyeyti ,f 'iffoi it`v appears before mounting on a slide fastener eed siepeirom the;

o'f the? construction of: pins for maintaining end y 55T inserting: loose enit stopss; 'linev larger? er1-clsV of the frusto-conical wall have an outwardly extending ange 56 disposed on opposite sides of a plate 52 and around a circular opening 54 in said plate, whereby the two halves 36, 38 and said plate define an enclosure or hopper in which loose end stops are contained.

The two wall bearings 46 are arranged in alignment to rotatably receive a spider shaft 55 journaled in main bearings 58 on a frame 60 which is carried by the base 62 of the machine. The spider shaft is turned by any suitable intermittently operating means; for example, the shaft has affixed thereto a ratchet wheel 64 which is intermittently engaged by a dog 66 pivotally secured to an oscillating lever 68 swinging on the shaft 56. The lever 68V is -reciprocated by a link whose lower end has a yoke l2 straddling a drive shaft 'M journaled in the base E2. Said yoke supports a roller follower 16 which rides in a track cut in the side face of a cam plate 18. The plate is fixed for rotation on the drive shaft 14 and its track is so shaped that once each revolution of the drive shaft, the link 70 is pulled down and then restored to its original position, thus causing the spider shaft 56 to advance a certain angular distance determined by the throw of the dog B6. As a matter of'practice, in the embodiment of the invention shown herein, thisdistance is equal to 45 so that the spider shaft turns through 360 once f orevery eight revolutions of the drive shaft. Suitable means, not shown, is employed to prevent the spider shaft from turning backwards. on the retrograde stroke of the dog.

` The shaft 55 carries a spider 80 comprising a plate equal in thickness to and coplanar with the plate 52. The central portion of the spider is -apertured to admit the shaft 46 and carries a pair of lintegral collars 6l fixed to the plate, as by welding, and rigidly secured to the shaft, asby set screws. Extending outwardly from the hub portion of the plate 80 are a plurality ofl arms 82 which are designed to ride on-the edge of the circular opening 54. The leading edge 84 of each arm is inclined at a relatively acute angle to said opening while the trailing edge 66 isv inclined more steeply to said opening. The portion of the spider intermediate adjacent arms. is smoothly curved, as seen in Fig. 1. This arrangement permits the leading edges to pick up theU-shaped end stops as the arms pass through the bottom of the mass of end stops in the hop-l per, and to transfer such end stops by sliding to the trailing edge of the preceding arm as the spider rotates. Such transfer can be seen by comparing the positions of end stops on the top four arms in Fig. l. l

The width of the plate 52 and of the spider arm is just slightly less than the distance between the two arms 26, 28 of the end stops, whereby an end stop picked up on a spider will be disposed astraddle the arm with its base strap 24 across the edge of the arm and its stub arms 26, 28 dangling down on the opposite sides o f the spider arm. Such disposition of the end stops will be seen from inspection o f Fig. 4.

Obviously, due to the substantial length of the leading edges 84, each time that a spider arm` passes through the loose mass of end stops, oneY or more end stops will be picked up on the arm. These end stops are transferred from the trailing edges 86 of the spider arms to a gravity chute at a delivery station 88 (see Fig. 5).

The upper portion of the gravity chute simply consists of an inclined slot 90 in the plate 52-'.

The slot starts at the circular opening 54, being located above the mass of end stops in the hopper and on the side of the mass at which the spider arms descend. Said slot is arranged to be approximately in line with a trailing edge of a spider arm at the time of transfer. The intermittent operation of the shaft 56 is so timed relative to the position of the spider on said shaft and to the entry end of the gravity chute that the spider intermittently stops with a trailing edge of one of its arms aligned with the low er edge of the slot 90. Due to the position of the slot, the trailing edge aligned therewith is one which has passed through the loose mass of end stops and has one or more end stops straddling it, ready for delivery into the chute. These `end stops will slide along the arm and into the chute under the inuence of gravity, the chute being inclined steeply enough to permit the end stops to travel through it in like manner.

Difculty has. been experienced in the jamming and mutilation of end stops at the delivery station 88. For example, an end stop may turn slightly as it is being introduced into the chute. Such astop may enter part way into the chute and then not slide any further due to its improper position. No end stops then could enter the chute until the improperly positioned stop is removed. Also, the chute might be filled, with just enough room left at the top of the chute to hold part of the next end stop. Such an end stop would project slightly out of the entry mouth of the chute and, when the toe .92 of the next spider arm advanced, it would hit said stop A and deform it. Such deformed stop might continue to slide down the chute and subsequently would be fastened to a Stringer where it would be quite likely to break and render the Stringer defective. On the other hand, if the damaged end stop would not slide down the chute, it would jam the chute and have to be removed manually.

Pursuant to a feature of the present invention, means are provided in the vicinity of the delivery station for eliminating the foregoing source of trouble. Such means comprises two mechanisms, to wit: a knock-off lever 94 and a spring mounted pad 56.

The knock-off lever is in the form of an arcuate metal strip 98 whose upper end is pivotally carried by a stud itil secured to a member m2 integral with the hopper. Said stud is so disposed that the outer end it of the spider arm immediately before the one at the delivery station will ride on and engage a cam projection ISS on the under edges of the lever and thereby push the lever away from the shaft 5S to such an extent thatits free swinging tip H6 is slightly in back of and below the entry end of the slot 90. When the shaft next is intermittently rotated, the spider arm which descends to the delivery station, will, shortly after it starts moving, ride off the cam, thus permitting the lever t8 to descend under the influence of gravity. Since the cam is rather low, the lever will only swing a short distance but this will suffice to allow the tip of the lever to move past the delivery station and to knock out.

The machine works so rapidly that occasionally andere the knock-off arm fails to removeffromthe-month of the chute an end stop projecting veryV slightly "beyond said mouth. To prevent mutilation of such an end stop, the pad 96' is provided. lThis pad comprisesa block H2 captively mounted in the plate 52 in such fashion that it'c'an-slide vertically. `me surface ci' said Yblock forms-the'lower edge` of theA chute at Vthe delivery station. Another surface of the olcck constltotes a portion of the circular opening Se, Theoloclr is resiliently biased in an upward direction means of a spring lit to a position in which its second mentioned surface forms part of the .opening 54.

Suitable means, not shown, is incorporated to limit the upward movement of thek bloeit to the position just mentioned. If the toe :e2 of a descending spider arm should strike against an end stop projecting slightly from the mouth of the delivery chute, instead or deformingtlie end stop, the toe merely will depress the bloeity IW 'The inclined slot de runs into a vertical slot H6 formed by a pair of plates Hfs, 23 which constitute the lower portion of the gravity chute. This vertical slot terminates' immediately above `a transfer mechanism Izfdesigned to present one end stop at a time to a clinching station. y

The transfer mechanis i-, which is mounted ldirectly on the base '62, inelodes a slide block 112s `reoiprocable between a pair of gibsI L26, lES and held down by restraining plates i3d. The forward portion of the'blooll; -l-Zlf has a hardened insert l32 which functions as an anvil Werl: holder. Said insert has its forward portion in dented to provide a depressedshelf i3d whose baci; edge 'or shoulder la is outwardly convex. The central portion of the Shelf adjacent the hack edge has a recess iSB fashioned therein just large enough to slid'ahly receive the lower portion of an end stop in the horizontal position shown in Figs. 11 and l2, i. e., with its pointing forwardly.

The block |24, by virtue ci its monnting between the gips, can be shiftedv back and teeth. In the rearmost position of the block lthe recess '38 is directly beneath the lower end or* the vertical' slot H6 so that the lowerniostend stop in said slot can drop into tliereeess, providing that 'therecess is emptyl Preferably, means is included to properly Alo- `cate the endlv stop thus dropped in therecess F353 thereby preventing it from tilting ont of its proper position for' attachment. Such means comprises apai'r of opstanding pins It carried by a plunger lf2. In order to permit vertical adjnsti-nten-t oi the pins, the upper part' ,of the plunger is split, the. two halves being' separated 'by a space will. said halves are arcuately notched as at his to define split hores in which the enlarged lower ends ide of the pins Mil are received. The two halves o the plunger M2. are clamped. together by a boltt having an elongated headitted in an open-ing 52 of: another plunger tt near the 'plimger t? so that the two. plungers are tied together for junit movement. Said. plungers are 'vertically reciprocable. in wells tem tief respectively, these wells teilig. inxercormeeted. hva pasn ,Such upward movemem being 1in-neo by atuement of the top end' or' the plonger i4? against the undersurface of the anvil -t's which 'caps 'the well f The insert is provided with -two vertical passagewaysfor passing ythe pins 40. These passageways are so disposed that Athe pins engage the inner surface of theA end stops adjacent the june ture between the base strap and arms 26, 28, when the' outer -snrfaces of said arms andv .hase strap are in sliding contact with `the walls ci the recess las, whereby the end stops are disposed in. .proper position. such location of the pins and .the lowermost end stop is showin yin Figs'. 1:1 and .12,

The plunger les carries an. erect stud y66 which extends through a `bore in the bloei: imi and protrudes above the upper surface or said. block. Pressing down the protruding portion of thestud los against the action oi the spring les will 'lower the inenting pins Mii', andk 'suifciie'nt clearance is provided to enable the pins to he depressed sono ciently'to bri-nei their 'tips below the bottom 'sinriace of the recess tta.

Means is included to reciprocate the block ttl between its gibs. means,y which is operated from a hollow shaft |25 rotatable on. the drive shaft '14, comprises a face cam |68 xed to said hollow` shaft and; engaging a roller Hd disposed at one end oi a lever H2 pivoted on. the underside of the base 62. The' other end` of the lever is hiforeated to slidably receive a pin VM fixed to the block. mi. and extending through a slot W6- in the base of the machine. only one. actu. ati-ng node |18 is provided on the earn Hi in the forni of the invention illustrated. herein so that once. each revolution of the hollow shaft 125, the block 24 will be moved 'from an advanced position to a position in which the vrecess t38'i is directly beneath the vertical chute {Si} position and then haokfto its startingpositioir.

In the advanced position of. the blocki tzt, said recess F38 is located immediately beneath the climi-ring: end 1.89 oi a ram |82. Sai-1d end of the ram is. adapted to he driven downwardly to press against the end stop contained in. the recess 33 and clamp the divergent; fingers w of the lugs on the beaded edge of a tape. To this end the ram le is slidaple in. a pair or journals 8# carried by the main frame on. A. pair of slots: lila' are formed the sides oftheram to receive the circoiarly` enlarged ends [88 of: rock levers fet whose opposite ends arevpivotaliy se cured tol a fitting'v i952 carrying a linksy me. Said is provided with a yoke 1596i ate its lower' end which straddl'es the hollow shaft [Z5 and maintains the lin'lr in vertical position The link oarries'- a follower rol-1er' pin tell which rides. in a track cut in the side of a cam 2M secured' tof the hollow shaft |1251 The camrtrack is so designed that once each revolution of the hollow shaft i215, it lowerthe ram m from its4 elevated position (Fig. Ill, down to a clamping positwn shown. in 7, and then/pack; toits initial position.

Means" also is included to lower." the inenting pins Hilf soV as to permitv Withdrawal, of arieid stop disposed. in the anvilafter saldstop'hasheen clamped on aslide fastener Stringer. Suchfmeans consistsfoi as foot 2li?.l secured. to;A the lower 'endet thevvram and. movable therewith. The; position of the. foot can be vertically adjusted, said yfoot beingprov'ded. with vertical slots.. not. shown, through which the shanksofbolt's 2M pass.. these being bolts whiclihold the foot to thel ram, Said foot is disposed' immediately above that portion of' the block' I'24" in which t'h'e stiId f6" is dafed at the time that kthe block' is in its advanced p0- stop lto settle itself.

.most position, as indicated in Fig. 11.

sition indicated in Fig. 7,' and said foot is so vertically positioned that it will engage the stud and depress it just before the clamping tool |8El `forced the nibs of the fingers 28 together.

The various cams 18, |68 and 200 are timed so that the machine operates in the following -manner: The drive shaft 14 is turned over continually by a motor 2&6 so that the cam 18 continually oscillates the spider shaft 56 at intervals. However, the hollow shaft |25 normally stands idle. 'I'his shaft is clutched to the drive shaft 14 through .a clutch 291 actuated by a foot treadle 208. When said treadle is depressed, the clutch 201 is rendered operable. Said clutch is constructed in any well known manner in the art, to

`cause the hollow shaft to turn with the drive shaft 14. Moreover, said clutch is of any well known one-revolution type, that is to say, the clutch itself is so constructed that, when actuated;` it will remain engaged for one revolution of the driving and driven shafts whereby the shaft A|25 will turn through one revolution with the drive shaft 14 and then automatically will be disconnected from said driving shaft. When the hollow shaft is idle, the ram |82 is raised,

as shown in Fig. l1, and the transfer block |24 is in its advanced position, illustrated in Fig. 7.

'a As soon as the treadle 258 is depressed, the

cam 280 will move the ram |82 downwardly a sufficient distance to clamp the fingers of an end Stop disposed in the recess |38. However, the toe .-2,02 leads to the clamping tip of the ram so that :the locating pins will be out of the way beneath the surface of the recess before the end stop is fully clamped. The cam 20|) is designed to thereafter immediately raise the ram |82 a short disltance, enough to permit the closed end stop to be Withdrawn between the tip of the ram and the shelf |34. Such raising of the ram, however, is not sufficient to permit the tips of the locating lingers again to be thrust into the recess |38.

Next, the cams, while still holding the ram |82 partially depressed, will retract the transfer block |24, pulling the stud |86 clear of the toe 202 and thus allowing the locating pins to be restored to receiving position. The transfer block .thereupon is moved to its rearmost position in order to allow the lowermost end stop in the vertical chute H6 to drop into the recess |38. Said block will rest for a short period of time at this rearmost position so as to permit the end During such time, or any time after the stud |86 has cleared the toe 282 the ram I| 82 is raised by the cam 26E! to its upper- Finally, the transfer-block |24 is moved back to its advanced position and at such time the clutch 267 disengages itself.

To use the machine, an operator places the edge `of a Stringer between the spread fingers of an end stop located in the recess |28 and then steps on the treadle 208. The ram thereupon descends to clamp the end stop on the Stringer, the locating lingers descending beneath the ram. Now, when the ram raises a short distance and the transfer block slides back, the Stringer automatically will be disengaged from the anvil |32 as the operator holds the Stringer taut. During the remainder of the cycle of the machine,

a fresh end stop is inserted automatically and Athe parts repositioned to receive a new Stringer.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a hopper mechanism for slide fastener end stops Vwhich achieves the various objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of `practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made in the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it will be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limited sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

l, In an apparatus for collecting and delivering end stops to a mounting machine, each said vend stop including a base strap and a pair of axis through a mass of loose end stops in said hopper whereby end stops Will be picked up astraddle said spider arms, means to intermittently rotate said spider, a gravity chute in said vertical plane, the upper end of said chute being adjacent the path of travel of the tips of the spider arms and below the axis of rotation of the spider, said means for intermittently rotating the spider being arranged to stop the spider intermittently with one arm after another successively in registry with the upper end of the gravity chute whereby end stops astraddle the spider arms will slide down the arm in registry with the upper end of the chute by gravity and into the chute, and means to knock oif end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of said chute, said last-named means comprising a member mounted so that the tip thereof is movable through the path of travel of end stops entering the upper end of said chute and means to move said member through said path during only the time that the spider is intermittently rotated and in a direction opposite to that in which said stops enter the upper end of the chute so as to knock back into the hopper end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of the chute as aforesaid.

2. In an apparatus for collecting and delivering end stops to a mounting machine, each said end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms: a hopper, a spider having flat arms adapted to revolve in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis through a mass of loose end stops in said hopper whereby end stops will be picked up astraddle said spider arms, means to intermittently rotate said spider, a gravity chute in said vertical plane, the upper end of said chute being adjacent the path of travel of the tips of the spider arms and below the axis of rotation of the spider, said means for intermittently rotating the spider being arranged to stop the spider intermittently with one karm after another successively in registry with the upper end of the gravity chute whereby end stops astraddle the spider arms will slide down the arm in registry with the upper end of the chute by gravity and into the chute, and means to knock oi end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of said chute, said last-named means comprising a, member mounted so that the tip thereof is movable through the path of travel of end stops entering the upper end of said chute and means operable by said arms to move said member through said path during only the time that the spider is intermittently rotated and in a direction opposite to that in which said stops enter the upper end of the chute so as to knock back into the hopper end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of the chute as aforesaid.

3. In an apparatus for collecting and delivering end stops to a mounting machine, each said end stop including a base strap and a pair of arms: a hopper, a spider having iiat arms adapted to revolve in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis through a mass of loose end stops in said hopper whereby end stops will be picked up' astraddle said spider arms, means to intermittently rotate said spider, a gravity chute in said vertical plane, the upper end of said chute being adjacent the path of travel of the tips of the spider arms and below the axis of rotation of the spider, said means for intermittently rotating the spider being arranged to stop the spider intermittently with one arm after another successively in registry with the upper end of the gravity chute whereby end stops astraddle the spider arms will slide down the arm in registry with the upper end of the chute by gravity and into the chute, and means to knock off end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of said chute, said last-named means comprising a member mounted so that the tip thereof is movable through the path of travel of end stops entering the upper end of said chute and a cam on said member engageable by the arms of the spider and While the arms are clear of the upper end of the chute to move said member through saidl path during only the time that the spider is intermittently rotated and in a direction opposite to that in which said stops enter the upper end of the chute so as to knock back into the hopper end stops jammed in or projecting from the upper end of the chute as aforesaid.

4. In an apparatus for collecting and delivering end stops to a mounting machine, each said end stop including a base strap and a pair oi' arms: a hopper, a spider having flat arms adapted to revolve in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis through a mass of loose end stops in said hopper whereby end stops will be picked up astraddle said spider arms, means to intermittently rotate said spider, a gravity chute in said vertical plane, the upper end of said chute being adjacent the path of travel of the tips of the spider arms and below the axis of rotation of the spider, said means for intermittently rotating the spider being arranged to stop the spider intermittently with one arm after another successively in registry with the upper end of the gravity chute whereby end stops astraddle the spider arms will slide down the arm in registry with the upper end of the chute by gravity and into the chute, a pad, means mounting said pad for translatory movement in said vertical plane from a i'lrst position in which an edge thereof constitutes the lower edge of the upper end of the chute to a second position below the said rst position and spring means biasing said pad toward said first-named position whereby said pad will be depressed when a spider arm presses down against an end stop jammed in or projecting from the upper end of said chute.

HARRY LEVINE.

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